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Moist Zucchini Banana Bread with Walnut Streusel

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This moist zucchini banana bread with walnut streusel is the perfect way to use up garden zucchini and overripe bananas. The zucchini keeps everything incredibly moist without adding any vegetable flavor, while the walnut streusel gives you that satisfying crunch in every slice.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • ½ cup vegetable oil (or melted coconut oil)
  • ⅔ cup granulated sugar
  • ⅓ cup packed brown sugar (light or dark)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2–3 medium bananas)
  • 1 cup shredded zucchini, gently squeezed to remove excess moisture
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour (for streusel)
  • ¼ cup packed brown sugar (for streusel)
  • ¼ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes (for streusel)
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts (for streusel)
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon (for streusel)

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan and line it with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on the long sides for easy removal.
  2. Prepare the zucchini. Wash your zucchini and trim off the ends. Using a box grater, shred the zucchini until you have about 1 cup loosely packed. Place the shredded zucchini in a clean kitchen towel or paper towels and gently squeeze out the excess moisture. Don’t squeeze too hard—you want some moisture left, just not the watery excess that would make your bread soggy. Set aside.
  3. Mash the bananas. In a small bowl, mash your ripe bananas with a fork until mostly smooth with a few small lumps remaining. You should have about 1 cup of mashed banana. The lumps add nice texture to the finished bread.
  4. Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg until well combined. This aerates the flour and distributes the leavening agents evenly.
  5. Mix the wet ingredients. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth and well combined. The mixture should look glossy and the sugars should be mostly dissolved.
  6. Combine wet and dry. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Be careful not to overmix—a few streaks of flour are okay at this point. Overmixing will make the bread tough.
  7. Fold in the bananas, zucchini, and walnuts. Add the mashed bananas, shredded zucchini, and chopped walnuts to the batter. Fold gently until everything is evenly distributed. The batter will look thick and slightly lumpy—that’s perfect.
  8. Make the streusel topping. In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon for the streusel. Add the cold butter cubes and use your fingers or a pastry cutter to work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the chopped walnuts. The streusel should hold together when squeezed but break apart easily.
  9. Assemble the bread. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread it evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the batter, gently pressing it into the surface so it sticks during baking.
  10. Bake. Place the loaf pan in the preheated oven and bake for 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. If the streusel is browning too quickly after about 40 minutes, tent the loaf loosely with aluminum foil.
  11. Cool. Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Then lift the bread out using the parchment paper overhang and transfer it to the wire rack to cool completely before slicing. This step is crucial—slicing too early will make the bread crumble.

Notes

Don’t skip squeezing the zucchini to avoid a gummy texture. Use really ripe bananas (brown spots) for best flavor and sweetness. Room temperature eggs help create a lighter texture. Check for doneness starting at 50 minutes. Let the bread cool completely before slicing to prevent crumbling. The flavors develop and deepen after a day or two.

Nutrition

Keywords: zucchini banana bread, moist banana bread, walnut streusel, garden zucchini recipe, easy banana bread, quick bread, summer baking

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